There Is Nothing Like A Serbian Wedding
The last days I was here in Kraljevo, Serbia and it was like if I was in a movie from Emir Kusturica. People who know me well know that I like Emir Kusturica’s movies. Mostly his movies play on the Balkans (although he has also a movie in the USA with Jonny Depp) and they are with their humor and melancholy a kind of mirror for people who never went to the Balkans.
The wedding of Darko and Zoritza was very beautiful. It started around 10 o’clock in the morning and at around 11 o’clock there was some gunfire. I asked the uncle of Darko why and the simple answer was Serbian “tradition”. Other tradition was that people started to drink around that time and eating, a lot of eating. Then, the bride was “sold” to Darko: a negotiating started about the price of the bride, but they came to an agreement. Then, it was time to go to the city hall, where my friends would marry for the Serbian law. The local gypsy musicians know that there are weddings on Sunday, so they were playing and asking money.
The wedding ceremony in the city hall was amazingly short, compared to the Netherlands: within 15 minutes we were outside and Darko and Zoritza were married for the Serbian law. Then, it was time to go to the church, which was in Matruska Banja. In this Orthodox church we had a beautiful ceremony and I found it really special to experience this.
After the official part we went home to relax a bit. After the refreshments and the traditional things like that the couple who just married at an apple together we went to a restaurant. With 231 other
guest we had a wonderful evening with a lot of food, drinks and dancing. Yes I had a dance with the bride. A day I will not forget and I think for Darko and Zoritza it is the same….
And every morning I woke up a couple of hours after the cock tried to wake me up and who was looking angry to me because I did not wake up when he tried to….. The goat was making noise and dancing in the field, the grandmother was drinking beer during the breakfast. The only thing I did not yet experienced are flying beds (like in “life is a miracle” from Kusturica), but who knows? You see, life is full with miracles and I think especially in Serbia….